HumatroPen News

THURSDAY, Aug. 27, 2015 – Older women with osteoporosis could get lasting benefits from a few years on growth hormone, a new, small trial suggests. Researchers found that when women with the bone-thinning disease took growth hormone for three years, their fracture risk was still reduced seven years later. Before entering the study, 56 percent of the women had suffered a bone break; over the 10-year study period, 28 percent sustained a fracture. But the study, reported online Aug. 27 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, only involved 55 women who used growth hormone. And experts said it is unlikely to become an approved treatment for osteoporosis any time soon. Still, the results are "pretty exciting," since they show a sustained effect on women's fracture risk, said Dr. Jerome Tolbert, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City. "Osteoporosis is a ... Read more

TUESDAY, June 16, 2015 – Short boys are much more likely than short girls to receive growth hormones, a new study finds. Researchers examined the medical records of more than 283,000 children and teens in the United States and found that short boys were up to three times more likely than short girls to receive recombinant human growth hormone treatment. Specifically, males accounted for 74 percent of patients who received the hormone to treat idiopathic short stature – shortness due to an unknown cause. Among patients who received the hormone for any diagnoses, 66 percent were male. The biggest gender differences in treatment occurred around puberty, when less time remains to correct poor growth in children, the researchers noted. The findings were published online June 9 in the journal Scientific Reports. "Growth is an important sign of child health, so growth failure merits equal ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 13, 2014 – Children who are prescribed human growth hormone may be at greater risk of a stroke in early adulthood than their peers are, a new study suggests. While the study raises important questions about the safety of human growth hormone treatments, the study's French researchers encouraged parents to discuss the pros and cons of treatment with their child's physician. "For children and adolescents currently on growth hormone treatment, the treatment should not be stopped, but the doctor prescribing the treatment should be consulted," said study author Dr. Joel Coste, head of the biostatistics and epidemiology unit at Hotel Dieu at the University of Paris. One expert agreed that the finding should give parents pause. "The study represents a kind of yellow light that should make people stop and think about [the potential risks]," said Dr. Rebecca Ichord, director of ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, March 27 – Parents often worry when their child, especially a son, is much shorter than average. But as long as there is no medical cause, parents can rest easy, experts say. Writing in the March 28 New England Journal of Medicine, two pediatric endocrinologists describe a scenario pediatricians see all the time: Parents bring in their 11-year-old son because he's substantially shorter than his classmates, and his growth seems to have slowed in recent years. Their concern is reasonable, said Dr. David Allen, co-author of the article and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. In the vignette, Allen and Dr. Leona Cuttler describe a boy whose height was in the third percentile at age 9 years. (That means he was shorter than 97 percent of boys his age.) But his growth rate slowed further, so that he is now in the ... Read more

THURSDAY, Oct. 11 – In the wake of new allegations around Lance Armstrong's involvement in blood doping, experts are reminding the public of the devastating impact these substances can have on an athlete's health. The recent report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency accusing seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong (he was recently stripped of those titles) of doping participation shows how deeply the practice is ingrained in cycling, but it's a big problem in others sports as well. So-called performance-enhancing drugs – such as erythropoietin, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone – may affect almost every system in the body, and have been linked to severe medical and psychiatric side effects. Add in diuretics to mask all the drugs, and athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs are risking their long-term health, experts say. One of the most common drugs is ... Read more

[UPDATED 08/04/2011] FDA has determined that, at this time, the evidence regarding recombinant human growth hormone and increased risk of death is inconclusive. In its analysis of the SAGhE study, FDA identified a number of study design weaknesses that limit the interpretability of the study results. FDA also reviewed the medical literature, as well as reports from the Agency's Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS). These additional data sources did not provide evidence suggestive of a link between recombinant human growth hormone and an increased risk of death. Healthcare professionals and patients should continue to prescribe and use recombinant human growth hormone according to the labeled recommendations. FDA is continuing to review this safety issue and expects to receive additional data from the SAGhE study in Spring 2012. FDA will update the public when new information is a ... Read more